Spiral pill dispenser for medicine bottles and containers

ABSTRACT

A pill dispenser that aids in the dispensing of pills from a medicine bottle or container having a top opening and an inside wall in which a raised spiral coil is included on the inside wall of the container where the coil terminates next to the top opening, the raised spiral coil forming a substantially spiral ridge and a substantially spiral trough into which pills are guided when tipping the bottle or container to discharge one or more pills.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a pill dispenser that aids in the dispensingof pills from a medicine bottle or container typically used for over thecounter or prescription medicines in pill form. The task of shaking oneor two pills from an irregularly shaped bottle or cylindrical containercan often be challenging. Frequently, more pills than are desired spillinto the hand and the excess have to be returned to the bottle. Inaddition to the potential for contamination of the replaced pills, thetask is annoying and may be frustrating to seniors with impairedfunctionality of their hands. The spiral pill dispenser of thisinvention is an inexpensive solution that controls the movement of pillsin a pill bottle that is either irregularly shaped or is cylindrical inform as is frequently used for prescription medications in pill form.

The spiral pill dispenser of this invention is designed for use with anexisting pill bottle or for incorporation into the inner surface of apill bottle during the manufacturing process. These and other featuresof the spiral pill dispenser are described in relation to the preferredembodiments set forth in the detailed description of the preferredembodiments.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invented spiral pill dispenser is designed and constructed to aid inthe discharge of pills from a pill bottle. The term, “pill” includesboth conventional compressed powder formulations and capsules, includingliquid-filled capsules. Similarly, the term “bottle” includes bothirregularly shaped bottles such as plastic or glass aspirin bottles, andcylindrically shaped bottles such as the plastic canisters that aretypically used for pharmaceutical drugs in pill or capsule form. Thespiral pill dispenser is in the form of a raised coil on the inside wallof the bottle. The raised coil is provided on at least the portion ofthe inside of the container next to the opening. The raised coil spiralsfrom a start point within the bottle to a termination next to the bottleopening.

One are more pills are retrieved by a simple sequence. After removingthe bottle cap on a bottle containing pills and tipping the bottle in acustomary fashion, the bottle is then gently rotated to guide containedpills along the spiral to the opening for discharge. A gentle shake canaccompany the rotation to control the sequential discharge, so that onlyone or two pills are dispensed under the user's control. This simplemechanical addition to the ordinary pill bottle, along with theintuitive rotation of the bottle, facilitates the expedient discharge ofpills, one by one.

The dimensions of the raised coil or ridge on the inside wall of thepill bottle naturally depend on the size and configuration of the pills.Smaller pills will require a reduced size in the height of the coils andthe spacing of one coil from another in the spiral. It is to beunderstood that while the preferred embodiment would incorporate theraised coils directly into the wall of the container duringmanufacturing, other embodiments allow addition of the spiral coil toexisting bottles. For example, a preformed coil having an adhesivecontact surface can be installed on the inner wall of the bottle.Alternately, for cylindrical canister-type bottles, a tubular sleevewith a raised helical coil on its inner wall can be inserted into theentire length of the bottle, or for both cylindrical and irregular-typebottles, into just the neck of the bottle. These and other features aredisclosed in the detailed description that follows a brief descriptionof the drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional side view of an irregularly shaped bottlewith removed cap showing the integral internal spiral coil.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged partial cross-sectional view of the preferredconfiguration of the internal spiral coil of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is an exploded view of a raised spiral coil sleeve for insertioninto a conventional cylindrical prescription bottle.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 3, the pill dispenser, designated in general bythe reference numeral 10, is shown in two different embodiments. In FIG.1 the pill dispenser 10 is integral with a pill bottle 12. In FIG. 3 thepill dispenser 10 is an added accessory element to a pill bottle 11 ofthe type typically used for pharmaceutical drugs.

In the unitary embodiment of FIG. 1, the irregularly shaped bottle istypical of the type found in retail stores for over the countermedicines. In this embodiment, the pill dispenser 10 is in the form of araised spiral coil 14 that is located at the neck 16 of the pill bottle12 and comprises approximately three turns of the spiral coil 14 formedduring the manufacturing process of the bottle. In molding plastic pillbottles, the incorporation of a pill dispenser 10 that is integral withthe bottle adds a convenience for the user that is a small additionalexpense.

The pill bottle 12 of FIG. 1 is shown in cross-section to illustrate theraised spiral coil 14 that spirals to the bottle opening where itterminates. The raised spiral coil 14 is shown enlarged in the partialcross-sectional segment of FIG. 2. In FIG. 2, the configuration of thecoil 14 is parabolic to provide rounded internal edges to minimize anychaffing to the pills 18 during dispensing and to guide pills into thetrough 20 between the raised coils 14. Preferably, there should be atleast three turns of the spiral coil and the size of the raised coils 14and width of the trough 20 should correspond generally to the size ofthe pills 18 contained by the bottle 12. The width of the trough 20should be slightly greater than the width of a pill 18 and preferablyslightly less than its length to insure a sequential disposition duringdispensing.

It is to be understood that the term “pills” includes capsules. Capsulesare frequently elongated and therefore require a greater width to thetrough 20 than a circular or elliptical pill in order to round thehelical path in the neck 16 of the bottle 12 during dispensing. Thepreferred number of turns can be reduced to accommodate pills of largersize.

The pill bottle 12 of FIG. 1 has a top 22 with a lip 24 that engages apress-on cap 26 in a conventional manner. It is also to be understoodthat an irregularly shaped bottle 12 is differentiated from thecylindrical pharmaceutical pill bottle 28 of FIG. 3 only for purposes ofshowing how the invented spiral coil pill dispenser can be adapted to avariety of conventional pill bottles. The shape of the bottle 12 shownin FIG. 1 is merely an example of one irregularly shaped bottle. If thedispenser 10 is integral and fabricated during the manufacture of thebottle, the bottle may have a longer neck than the typical bottle to addadditional turns of the coil. Alternately, the bottle with the integralspiral coil dispenser 10 may be cylindrical in shape and of the typeshown in FIG. 3.

Referring now to FIG. 3, the pill dispenser 10 is in the form of acylindrical (or slightly truncated conical) sleeve 40. The sleeve 40 hasa shell 42 with a top 44 having a thin rim 46 which seats on the top 48of the cylindrical bottle 28. For convenience the sleeve 40 and thebottle 28 are transparent to illustrate the internal raised spiral coil49 in dotted line on the inside wall 50 of the sleeve. The exploded viewof FIG. 4 illustrates the manner the sleeve 40 is inserted into theconventional pharmaceutical pill bottle 28. The pill bottle 28 has a cap52 that seats over the thin rim 46 of the sleeve 40 and engages a flange54 at the top 48 of the cylindrical bottle.

It is to be understood that just as the integral or unitary raisedspiral coil can be incorporated into the wall of a cylindrical bottleduring manufacture, a sleeve with an internal raised spiral coil can beadapted for insertion into the neck of an irregularly shaped bottle.Additionally, other modifications can be made without departing from thespirit and scope of the invention. For example, the dispenser can be inthe form of a coil that is adhesively attached to the wall of the bottlein a short spiral.

During use, the method of dispensing pills from a pill bottle having araised spiral coil in the neck of the bottle located next to the topopening is intuitive. The pill bottle is gently tipped to urge containedpills seated in the trough between raised turns of the coil toward theopening. The pill bottle may optionally be gently shaken to advance thepills to the neck and opening of the bottle. The pill bottle in thetilted position is gently rotated with a clockwise motion to dispenseindividual pills. Although the procedure is designed for the ease of aright-handed person, a left-handed person can easily adapt with acounter-clockwise rotation. Alternately, a raised spiral coil can beconstructed with an opposite rotation for a left-handed person,particularly for the inexpensive insert embodiment.

These and other features have been described with respect to multiplepreferred embodiments to illustrate the scope of the invention which isset forth in the claims that follow.

1. A pill dispenser for discharging pills comprising: a pill containerhaving an open top that is adapted to be covered by a cap, the containerhaving a substantially cylindrical inside portion below the open top,and a raised spiral coil within the pill container on the cylindricalinside portion that terminates near the open top, wherein the raisedspiral coil forms a substantially spiral ridge with a substantiallyspiral trough between turns of the spiral ridge, the ridge and troughbeing sized to urge pills contained in the pill container into thetrough when tipping the container for controlled dispensing ofindividual pills wherein the spacing between turns of the spiral ridgeapproximates the width of pills contained in the pill container.
 2. Thepill dispenser of claim 1 wherein the pill container has an inside walland the raised spiral coil is formed in the inside wall along thecylindrical inside portion of the pill container.
 3. The pill dispenserof claim 1 wherein the raised spiral coil is formed in a substantiallycylindrical sleeve insertable into the open top of the pill container atleast along the cylindrical inside portion of the pill container.
 4. Thepill dispenser of claim 1 wherein the pill container is an irregularlyshaped bottle with a cylindrical neck.
 5. The pill dispenser of claim 1wherein the pill container is a cylindrical pharmaceutical-typecanister.
 6. The pill dispenser of claim 1 wherein the raised spiralcoil has at least three turns of the coil.
 7. The pill dispenser ofclaim 1 wherein the ridge of the raised spiral coil is rounded.
 8. Thepill dispenser of claim 1 wherein the pill container has an inside walland the raised spiral coil has an adhesive adapted to attach the raisedspiral coil to the inside wall of the container at the cylindricalinside portion of the pill container.
 9. The pill dispenser of claim 1wherein the pill container is a bottle with a cylindrical neck and theraised spiral coil is located within the bottle at the neck.
 10. Thepill dispenser of claim 1 wherein the width of the trough between turnsof the spiral ridge is sized to be slightly greater than the width of apill contained in the container.